Scheduling apparatus and method for multicast broadcast service

ABSTRACT

Provided are a scheduling apparatus and method for a multicast broadcast service. Scheduling information is configured with at least one of information related to a location in which each multicast broadcast service, which is identified by a unique identifier within one scheduling period, starts and information related to a location in which each multicast broadcast service ends, and a scheduling block including the configured scheduling information is generated. There is an advantage that power management of user equipment is easy, and a time delay when initially entering the MBMS and a channel change time when selecting a different MBMS are reduced.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/910,524 filed on Jun. 5, 2013, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/769,225filed on Apr. 28, 2010, which claims priority to, and the benefit of,Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0036969 filed on Apr. 28, 2009 andKorean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0092474 filed on Sep. 29, 2009 inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the entire contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

Example embodiments of the present invention relate in general to ascheduling apparatus and method for a multicast broadcast service andmore specifically to a scheduling apparatus and method for a multicastbroadcast service using a scheduling block for a multicast broadcastservice.

2. Related Art

A 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE)mobile communication system, which is currently being standardized, is anext generation communication system which is evolved to be capable ofproviding a variety of high-speed data services to a packet-based mobilecommunication network. For example, a service technique that makes itpossible to transmit multimedia contents via a mobile communicationnetwork in a broadcast form or a multicast form known as a multimediabroadcast/multicast service (MBMS) is being introduced together with avoice service and a packet service.

In the MBMS, multimedia is transmitted via a radio network in abroadcast form or a multicast form, and so it is possible to provide aplurality of users with a service using a small radio resource. In theLTE system, it is possible to allocate a radio resource for the MBMS ina time and frequency domain using Orthogonal Frequency Division MultipleAccess (OFDMA) as a multiple access method. A multicast broadcastservice is supported not only in the 3GPP LTE system, but also IEEE802.16m.

In the current LTE system, a multicast control channel (MCCH) and anMBMS traffic channel (MTCH) are defined as logical channels forproviding the MBMS. The two channels correspond to multicast channels(MCH) which are transport channels, and the MCH corresponds to aphysical multicast channel (PMCH), a physical channel.

The MTCH is used to transmit MBMS data traffic, and one MTCH correspondsto each MBMS. The MCCH transmits control information of the MTCH(s) andsession control information related to the MBMS.

User equipment (UE) which uses the MBMS receives system informationtransmitted through a broadcast channel (BCH) and can acquire allocationinformation of a radio frame and a subframe through which the MBMS isprovided from the received system information.

One or more MTCH(s) through which MBMS data is transmitted may bemultiplexed into one MCH and then transmitted for efficient use of theradio resource. That is, a variety of MBMSs may be multiplexed into andtransmitted through one MCH, and it may be dynamically changed at eachscheduling period or interval. That is, since a location of a resourceallocated to a specific MBMS which the UE desires to receive isvariable, the UE can be provided with a desired MBMS only when alocation of a subframe including a corresponding MBMS is recognizedexactly.

Thus, in order for the UE to receive a desired MBMS, a scheme capable ofefficiently transmitting scheduling information between services (of theMTCH) to the UE is required.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, example embodiments of the present invention are providedto substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations anddisadvantages of the related art.

Example embodiments of the present invention provide a scheduling methodof an MBMS for efficient use of radio resources.

In some example embodiments, a scheduling method for a multicastbroadcast service includes: configuring scheduling information includingat least one of information related to a location in which eachmulticast broadcast service, which is identified by a unique identifierwithin one scheduling period, starts and information related to alocation in which each multicast broadcast service ends; and generatinga scheduling block including the configured scheduling information.

The scheduling block may be located at a first location within onescheduling period.

The scheduling block may be located behind a location in which eachmulticast broadcast service ends.

The scheduling block may include scheduling information for acorresponding multicast broadcast service of the next scheduling period.

The length of the scheduling information may be variable.

The scheduling information may further include an end tag representingthe end of the scheduling information for each service.

The scheduling information may further include border informationrelated to a border location of each multicast broadcast service, andthe border information may represent whether or not each multicastbroadcast service used the last resource of each subframe.

The scheduling information may further include information for ascheduling period in which each multicast broadcast service is included.

The scheduling information may include scheduling information for atemporally subsequent scheduling period as well as schedulinginformation for a scheduling period to which the scheduling informationcurrently belongs.

The scheduling information may include scheduling information for amulticast broadcast service which is not included in a currentscheduling period in which the scheduling information is included.

Information related to a location in which each multicast broadcastservice starts or information related to a location in which eachmulticast broadcast service ends may additionally represent whether asession was finished with respect to a corresponding service.

Information related to a location in which each multicast broadcastservice starts or information related to a location in which eachmulticast broadcast service ends may additionally represent whether ornot a corresponding service is included in a current scheduling period.

In other example embodiments, a scheduling apparatus for a multicastbroadcast service includes: configuring scheduling information includingat least one of information related to a location in which eachmulticast broadcast service, which is identified by a unique identifierwithin one scheduling period, starts and information related to alocation in which each multicast broadcast service ends; and generatinga scheduling block including the configured scheduling information.

Using the scheduling method for the MBMS according to exampleembodiments of the present invention, it is possible to exactly andefficiently receive the MBMS scheduled in the LTE system. Therefore,there is an advantage that power management of the UE is easy, and atime delay when initially entering the MBMS and a channel change timewhen selecting a different MBMS are reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Example embodiments of the present invention will become more apparentby describing in detail example embodiments of the present inventionwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining a scheduling method for a multicastbroadcast service according to example embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a communication system according to exampleembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of a scheduling block for an MBMSaccording to example embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3B illustrates a form of at least one continuous scheduling periodto which the method of FIG. 3A is applied;

FIG. 4A illustrates another example of a scheduling block for an MBMSaccording to example embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4B illustrates a form of at least one continuous scheduling periodto which the method of FIG. 4A is applied;

FIG. 5 illustrates a scheduling block and a configuration thereofaccording to each of MBMSs according to a first example embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a scheduling block and a configuration thereofaccording to each of MBMSs according to a second example embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a scheduling block and a configuration thereofaccording to each of MBMSs according to a third example embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of a scheduling block of each ofMBMSs according to a fourth example embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrate a configuration of a scheduling blockaccording to each of MBMSs according to a fifth example embodiment ofthe present invention; and

FIGS. 10A to 10C are views illustrating a configuration of thescheduling block according to each of MBMSs according to a sixth exampleembodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein.However, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein aremerely representative for purposes of describing example embodiments ofthe present invention, however, example embodiments of the presentinvention may be embodied in many alternate forms and should not beconstrued as limited to example embodiments of the present invention setforth herein.

Accordingly, while the invention is susceptible to various modificationsand alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit theinvention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, theinvention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention. Like numbers referto like elements throughout the description of the figures.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. maybe used herein to describe various elements, these elements should notbe limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish oneelement from another. For example, a first element could be termed asecond element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a firstelement, without departing from the scope of the present invention. Asused herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of oneor more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(i.e., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directlyadjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,”“comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when used herein, specifythe presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “user equipment (UE)” may be referred to as amobile station, user terminal (UT), wireless terminal, access terminal(AT), terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station (SS), wirelessdevice, wireless communication device, wireless transmit/receive unit(WTRU), moving node, mobile, or other terms. Various example embodimentsof a UE may include a cellular phone, a smart phone having a wirelesscommunication function, a personal digital assistant (PDA) having awireless communication function, a wireless modem, a portable computerhaving a wireless communication function, a photographing apparatus suchas a digital camera having a wireless communication function, a gamingapparatus having a wireless communication function, a music storing andplaying appliance having a wireless communication function, an Internethome appliance capable of wireless Internet access and browsing, andalso portable units or terminals having a combination of such functions,but are not limited to these.

In this specification, the term “base station” is used to mean adifferent term including Node-B, eNode-B, a base transceiver system, andan access point.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, thefunctions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted inthe flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved.

With reference to the appended drawings, exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention will be described in detail below. To aid inunderstanding the present invention, like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout the description of the figures, and the description of thesame component will not be reiterated.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for explaining a scheduling method for a multicastbroadcast service according to example embodiments of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the scheduling method for the multicast broadcastservice according to example embodiments of the present invention mayinclude operation (S110) of configuring scheduling information andoperation (S120) of generating a scheduling block including theconfigured scheduling information and may further include operation oftransmitting the generated scheduling block (not shown).

In operation of configuring the scheduling information (S110),scheduling information including at least one of information related toa location at which each multicast broadcast service identified by aunique identifier within one scheduling period starts and informationrelated to a location at which each multicast broadcast service ends isconfigured. The configured scheduling information is included in thescheduling block and transmitted.

FIG. 2 illustrates a communication system according to exampleembodiments of the present invention.

The communication system according to example embodiments of the presentinvention may include a communication network 200, a multicast broadcastscheduling apparatus 210, a relay 220, and at least one user terminal230. The communication system according to example embodiments of thepresent invention may not include any relay.

The scheduling apparatus 210 for the multicast broadcast serviceaccording to example embodiments of the present invention configures thescheduling information which includes at least one of informationrelated to a location at which each multicast broadcast serviceidentified by a unique identifier within one scheduling period startsand information related to a location at which each multicast broadcastservice ends and generates the scheduling block including the configuredscheduling information. An example embodiment of the schedulingapparatus 210 includes a base station.

In the current LTE system, the scheduling information of the MBMS isprovided through an MCH subframe allocation pattern (hereinafter, MSAP)occasion. One or more MSAP occasions may be included in one schedulingperiod or scheduling interval (101 in FIG. 3A and FIG. 4A).

The scheduling period or scheduling interval is a period which isdivided again so that MBMSs, which were multiplexed for efficientdiscontinuous receptions of the user terminal and MBSFN synchronizationof base stations, do not overlap in a time axis. The schedulinginformation for MBMS data that has been divided again is transmitted tothe user terminal through the scheduling block. In schemes suggested upto now, a configuration of the scheduling period may be divided into twoaccording to a location of the scheduling block 111. The respectivecases are illustrated in FIG. 3A and FIG. 4A.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of the scheduling block for the MBMSaccording to example embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 3Billustrates a form of at least one continuous scheduling period to whichthe method of FIG. 3A is applied.

In the scheme suggested in FIG. 3A, a separate scheduling block 111which includes scheduling information for all MBMSs belonging to acurrent scheduling period 101 is disposed at a first location in a time103 and a frequency domain 102 within the scheduling period. Datatraffic of the MBMS is allocated to a first MBMS 112, a second MBMS 113,and a third MBMS 114, and remaining portions are filled with no data,and filling 115 as padding. The scheduling block provides a startlocation and an end location of MBMSs which belong to the currentscheduling period. For example, in the case of the first MBMS 112, timeand subcarrier index information of the start location and time andsubcarrier index information of the end location are reported in orderto inform of a location of the data allocation portion 112. That is, thescheduling block is configured with the start location and the endlocation of each MBMS.

In the case of the scheme suggested in FIG. 3A, since the schedulinginformation is provided only for the current scheduling period, when anew MBMS user appears, if it is determined that an MBMS is present byreading the scheduling block of the current scheduling period, the usercan be provided with an MBMS in the current scheduling period. Thus,there is an advantage of being capable of reducing a delay time until anMBMS is provided. However, as can been seen from FIG. 3B, even when anMBMS data service which is desired to be received is not present, theuser terminal should be activated in order to check the scheduling blockin every scheduling period. Particularly, in the case of FIG. 3B, whendesiring to receive the second MBMS, the user terminal is activated inevery scheduling period and thus performs an inefficient operation inthe second and third scheduling periods.

FIG. 4A illustrates another example of a scheduling block for an MBMSaccording to example embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 4Billustrates a form of at least one continuous scheduling period to whichthe method of FIG. 4A is applied.

In a scheme suggested in FIG. 4A, after transmission of each MBMS datais completed, the scheduling information for the next scheduling periodis transmitted. The scheduling information for an MBMS in the currentscheduling period should be acquired in a previous scheduling period.Similarly to FIG. 3A, when an MBMS is present in the next schedulingperiod, the start location and the end location of the correspondingMBMS are reported as a time and a subcarrier index. Thus, in order torecognize a location of a specific MBMS in the next scheduling period,the scheduling block located at the last portion of the datatransmission interval of the corresponding MBMS in the currentscheduling period should be successfully received.

In the case of the scheme suggested in FIG. 4B, the schedulinginformation for the next scheduling period can be provided, andinformation representing that data for a specific MBMS is not presentduring the next or subsequent scheduling period can be transmitted withrespect to an MBMS having no data. Thus, the user terminal whichnormally received the scheduling block for the corresponding MBMS canefficiently perform the discontinuous reception during one or morescheduling periods in which data is not present. For example, asillustrated in FIG. 4B, when the scheduling block for the second MBMS issuccessfully received in the first scheduling period, it is possible torecognize that the second MBMS is present again in the scheduling period4, and thus the user terminal may not be activated in the schedulingperiods 2 and 3. However, when the user terminal which desires toreceive the second MBMS starting from the second scheduling period ispresent, a result worse than in the scheme of FIG. 3A may be obtainedsince it can be confirmed that data of the second MBMS is not presentonly when all data of the second and third scheduling periods arereceived.

Therefore, example embodiments of the present invention suggest a methodof providing MBMS scheduling information for the current schedulingperiods or scheduling information for a scheduling period subsequentthereto. According to example embodiments of the present invention, thelocation of the scheduling block may include the above-mentioned twocases or any other location, and information included in the schedulingblock may be variable.

A first example embodiment of the present invention is as follows. Whenthe scheduling block is located at the first portion of the schedulingperiod, the scheduling block includes the scheduling information of theMBMS, which is present in the corresponding scheduling period, withrespect to the corresponding scheduling period and includes informationfor one or more subsequent scheduling periods with respect to the MBMSwhich is not present in the current scheduling period. At this time, thelength of the scheduling block may be variable or fixed.

When the MBMS is scheduled in a manner similar to FIG. 4A and the lengthof the scheduling block is fixed, it may be represented in a form of anembodiment illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates a scheduling block and a configuration thereofaccording to each of MBMSs according to a first example embodiment ofthe present invention.

In FIG. 5, ID 501 is an identifier of an MBMS which is currently beingprovided, and P (period) 502 represents the number of scheduling periodswhich should be waited for until a data service is provided. A startpoint 503 and an end point 504 represent a start location and an endlocation of a time and a frequency index of MBMS data of the currentscheduling period, respectively. In the present embodiment, both thestart point and the end point are used, but the scheduling block may beconfigured using only the start point. The P 502 having a value of “0”means that MBMS data is present in the current scheduling period, andthe P 502 having a value of 1 or more means that the corresponding MBMSis present again after as many scheduling periods as the correspondingnumber have elapsed. According to this embodiment, values of the startpoint and the end point are not given to the MBMS having the service IDin which the P value is not 0.

FIG. 5 shows the scheduling block of the form including the P value, butthe scheduling block of the form having no P value is also possible. Forexample, when both the start point and the end point are 0 as in thesecond scheduling period of FIG. 5, it can be easily inferred that thecorresponding service is not included in the scheduling period in whichthe corresponding scheduling block is included. Thus, it is notnecessary to report whether or not the corresponding service is includedin the current scheduling period through the P value. That is, it can beindicated whether or not the specific service is present in the currentscheduling period or the next scheduling period through the start pointand the end point without using the P 502. According to exampleembodiments of the present invention, it can be indicated whether or notthe specific service is present in the current scheduling period or thenext scheduling period using either the start point or the end point,which will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 9A to 9Cand FIGS. 10A to 10C.

Referring to FIG. 5, the second MBMS does not have the MBMS data frombetween the second scheduling period and the third scheduling period.Therefore, the scheduling block of the second scheduling period has 2 asthe P value for the service ID s2. This is because MBMS transmission forthe second service does not occur during the two scheduling periodsincluding the current scheduling period. In this manner, even the userterminal which desires to newly receive the second MBMS starting fromthe second scheduling period can recognize that data of the second MBMSis not present in the third scheduling period, and thus, there is noneed to receive all data of each scheduling period (the user terminaldoes not need to be activated in the third scheduling period). As aresult, more efficient power management of the user terminal ispossible. When the third scheduling period comes, the P value of s2 isreduced to 1, and it is reported that data of the second MBMS is presentafter one scheduling period.

As a second example embodiment of the present invention, the schedulingblock may be disposed at a location where transmission of each MBMS dataservice is finished. In this case, the length of the scheduling block isfixed. This case is illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 illustrates a scheduling block and a configuration thereofaccording to each of MBMSs according to a second example embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the scheduling block of each MBMS provided in thecurrent scheduling period includes scheduling information for the nextor subsequent scheduling period. When a P 602 value is 0, a start point603 and an end point 604 of a corresponding ID 601 represent a startlocation and an end location of MBMS data in the next scheduling period,respectively. In FIG. 6, therefore, when the P value is 2 in the firstscheduling period like the second MBMS having s2 as the service ID, MBMSdata is not present in the second and third scheduling periods. Sincethe user terminal which successfully received the scheduling block ofthe second MBMS in the first scheduling period is not activated in thesecond scheduling period, power can be efficiently managed. However, theuser terminal should be activated again in the third scheduling periodand acquire start location information and end location information ofMBMS data in the next scheduling period.

Even in the case of the MBMS in which MBMS data is not present in thecurrent scheduling period, the scheduling block of the correspondingMBMS is provided. For example, when the user terminal which desires tonewly receive the second MBMS enters the second scheduling period, theuser terminal can recognize that data of the second MBMS will betransmitted again in the fourth scheduling period through the P value.Further, it is possible to recognize the start location and the endlocation of the scheduling block in which the ID is s2 in the thirdscheduling period according to the scheduling information suggested inthe scheduling block in which the ID is s2 in the second schedulingperiod. By reading the s2 scheduling block in the third schedulingperiod, MBMS data in which the ID is s2 in the fourth scheduling periodcan be received. Thus, it is possible to receive the MBMS moreefficiently than in the method capable of receiving MBMS data only whenreceiving all scheduling periods in the conventional art.

According to example embodiments of the present invention, informationwhich configures the scheduling block may be variable, which isillustrated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 illustrates a scheduling block and a configuration thereofaccording to each of MBMSs according to a third example embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment in which the length of the schedulingblock is variably set. A service ID 701 is an identifier of the MBMS,and P 702 represents the number of scheduling periods which remain untila scheduling period in which corresponding MBMS data is present. A startpoint 703 and an end point 704 represent a start location and an endlocation of MBMS data, respectively. Further, an end tag 705 means thatthere is no further information for a specific service ID and thatinformation for the next MBMS will be provided.

FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of a scheduling block of each ofMBMSs according to a fourth example embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 8, the MBMS data is scheduled in a manner similar to FIG. 4B,and the scheduling block is located at a front portion of the schedulingperiod. The scheduling block is configured with a service ID 801, P 802,and a start point value. The MBMS data interval can be obtained onlythrough the start point value of each MBMS data. In this case, alocation immediately before the start location of the next MBMS datawill be an end location of the current MBMS data.

For example, let us look at a location of the resource allocated to anMBMS data service in which the service ID is s1 in the first schedulingperiod. In the first scheduling period of FIG. 8, the service ID s1 hasonly information (0,0) related to the start point. However, consideringthat the start point of the service ID s2 is (2,4), it can be understoodthat the service ID s1 is the MBMS data service which is present from alocation of the time index 0 and the subcarrier index 0 to a locationimmediately before the start location of s2, that is, a location of thetime index 2 and the subcarrier index 3.

Further, let us look at a location of the resource allocated to the MBMSdata service in which the service ID is s1 in the second schedulingperiod. In the second scheduling period of FIG. 8, the service ID s1 hasinformation (0, 0) related to the start point, and s2 does not have MBMSdata in the current scheduling period. Further, s3 has information (3,3) related to the start point. Thus, in the second scheduling period, itcan be understood that the service ID s1 is the MBMS data service whichis present from a location of the time index 0 and the subcarrier index0 to a location immediately before the start location of s2, that is, alocation of the time index 3 and the subcarrier index 2.

As described above, using the scheduling information providing methodaccording to example embodiments of the present invention, there is anadvantage that power management of the user terminal is easy, and a timedelay when initially entering the MBMS and a service moving time whenselecting a different MBMS (for example, changing a channel) arereduced.

FIGS. 9A to 9C illustrate a configuration of a scheduling blockaccording to each of MBMSs according to a fifth example embodiment ofthe present invention.

In a method of configuring scheduling information according to a fifthexample embodiment of the present invention which is illustrated inFIGS. 9A to 9C, scheduling information is configured with either a startlocation or an end location of a service and border indicatorinformation which is added. That is, one of the starting location andthe end location is combined with the border information to provideinformation through which it is determined whether or not acorresponding MBMS is supported during a current scheduling period.Further, the same combination is used to provide information throughwhich the user terminal is notified of a session stop so that the userterminal stops unnecessary reception.

In detail, in FIG. 9A, when the MTCH corresponding to each service isallocated to a subframe in a situation in which various MBMSs arepresent, it can be reported through the border information whether ornot the last resource of the subframe was used. A first service 901 anda third service 903 did not use the last resource of the subframe, andthus the border information is indicated by “0.” Since the otherservices used the last resource of the subframe, the border informationis indicated by “1.” Of course, this is an example embodiment, and theborder information which used the last resource may be indicated by “0,”and information which did not use the last resource may be indicated by“1.” That is, as long as the case of using the last resource and thecase of not using the last resource can be discriminatorily represented,the present embodiment can be modified to any form. Further, in thepresent embodiment, the starting point has 7 bits, but it may beexpressed by bits of various lengths, for example, 12 bits or 16 bits.

FIG. 9B illustrates an embodiment in which when a service which is notsupported is present during a scheduling period, it is indicated byusing either of the starting point and the end point with the borderinformation. FIG. 9B illustrates a case where a third service 913 is notsupported, and as illustrated in FIG. 9B, it can be represented by acombination of the start point and the border information. Whenconfiguring the scheduling information, the third service 913 and thefourth service 914 are set to use the same start point, and the borderinformation of the third service is indicated by “1.” In this case, itis a contradiction that the border information of the third service is“1” even though the start point of the fourth service transmitted afterthe third service is the same as the start point of the third service,and thus through this fact, it is possible to obtain informationrepresenting that the third service is not supported during thecorresponding scheduling period. That is, when the services having thesame start point are found, if the service in which the borderinformation is indicated by 1 is present, this service is the servicewhich is not supported in the current scheduling period (the borderinformation “1” means that the last resource of the correspondingsubframe was used).

Meanwhile, it can be indicated using only the start point informationwithout using the border information whether or not the specific serviceis supported. For example, even through there is no border informationin FIG. 9B, it can be determined that the third service is substantiallynot provided in the corresponding scheduling period since the startpoint information of the fourth service is the same as the start pointinformation of the third service. This embodiment corresponds to anembodiment in which either of the start point and the end point is usedto indicate whether the specific service is present in the correspondingscheduling period or the next scheduling period.

FIG. 9C illustrates an embodiment in which when a service in which asession was finished is present during a scheduling period, it isindicated by using either of the starting point and the end point withthe border information. When a session of the third service 923 hasfinished, it is reported through the scheduling information, and allbits of the scheduling information corresponding to the third serviceare configured only with “1.” For example, in the case of 8 bits, it isindicated by “11111111.” As in FIG. 9C, even when a service in which asession has finished is present, information related to whether or not asession has finished can be represented using only the start point. Forexample, if all bits of the start point are configured only with “1,”that is, “11111111” like the case of the third service of FIG. 9C, it ispossible to indicate that the session related to the correspondingservice finished without using the separate border information.

FIGS. 10A to 10C are views illustrating a configuration of thescheduling block according to each of MBMSs according to a sixth exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A illustrates an embodiment of a scheme of enabling an efficientterminal operation using the border information, and the borderinformation “1” means a case where the last resource of the subframe wasused. Since the border information of the second service 1002 isindicated by “1,” this means that the remaining resources of thesubframe 1 are allocated to the second service. Thus, a case where theuser terminal which desires to receive the third service 1003 shouldunnecessarily receive the subframe 1 can be eliminated. Here, anembodiment in which the border information “0” is set to represent thatthe last resource of the corresponding subframe was used is alsopossible.

FIG. 10B also illustrates an example of a method of indicating a servicewhich is not supported in the current scheduling period by using the endpoint and the border information similarly to FIG. 9B. The third service1013 and the fourth service 1014 have the same end point, but the borderinformation of the third service is indicated by “1.” This cannot occurunder normal circumstances, and means that the third service is notsupported during the current scheduling period.

Similarly to the case of FIG. 9B, it can be indicated using only the endpoint information without using the border information whether or notthe specific service is supported. For example, in FIG. 10B, even thoughthe border information is not present, since the start point of thefourth service is the same as the start point of the third service, itcan be determined that the third service is substantially not providedin the corresponding scheduling period. This embodiment corresponds toan embodiment in which either of the start point and the end point isused to indicate whether the specific service is present in thecorresponding scheduling period or the next scheduling period asdescribed above in FIG. 5.

In FIG. 10C, similarly to FIG. 9C, the scheduling information is used toindicate that the session has finished, and the scheduling informationof the corresponding service in which the session finished is configuredonly with “1” as described above. Similarly to FIG. 9C, only the endpoint without the border information can be used to representinformation related to whether or not the session has finished. Forexample, if all bits of the end point are configured only with “1,” thatis, “11111111” like the case of the third service of FIG. 10C, it ispossible to indicate that the session related to the correspondingservice was finished without using the separate border information.

In both cases of using the start point or the end point, when theservice is accurately finished without padding to the last subframe,that is, when the border information of the last service is “1” and theend point is the last subframe regardless of the start point, it isdetermined whether or not there is padding by including informationwhich cannot be located in the scheduling period as the start locationof padding. That is, when there is no padding, a value or a specialdifferent value which cannot be included in the scheduling period may beused as the start point or the end point of padding.

In the above-mentioned example embodiments, various embodiments of thepresent invention have been suggested for the MBMS, but the presentinvention can be applied to the case of scheduling necessary forproviding the multicast broadcast service including the multicast andbroadcast service (MBS) as well as the MBMS regardless of the name.

While the example embodiments of the present invention and theiradvantages have been described in detail, it should be understood thatvarious changes, substitutions and alterations may be made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A receiving method in a user terminal,comprising: receiving scheduling information for at least one multicastbroadcast service; and receiving the multicast broadcast service byusing the scheduling information, wherein the scheduling informationincludes information related to subframe location in which eachmulticast broadcast service ends within a scheduling period comprising aplurality of subframes and the scheduling information includesscheduling information for a multicast broadcast service which is notincluded in a current scheduling period.